United States President Donald Trump said he was joking about asking UFC CEO Dana White to be the next White House press secretary.
“I was only kidding,” Trump told reporters Sunday, according to Fox News. “But Dana loves the idea.”
On Saturday, Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he had offered White the press secretary job. The position has been vacant since Katie Zacharia was fired Oct. 16, just five days after she assumed the role.
Trump said at the time that he wanted several current and former UFC fighters, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, to join White as his assistants.
“Of course, I was kidding, and you could see that because I put all of the great fighters as his assistants, that they’re all gonna come with him,” Trump added Sunday. “It was just a little fun.”
Trump also said he’s still planning to meet with White on Monday at the White House, as the UFC CEO will be in Washington “for other reasons.” But their meeting apparently won’t be about the press secretary job.
“That was an example of something where I was kidding, and then people said, ‘You know, that’s actually a pretty good idea,'” Trump said.
